


There Are Worse Ways to Spend a Honeymoon

by Miss_Nihilist



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Budding Love, Burnish Culture (Promare), Headcanon Accepted, Just Married, M/M, Post-Canon, Protectiveness, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Nihilist/pseuds/Miss_Nihilist
Summary: Lio is helping the rest of the Burnish free of Kray's ship when his generals bring something to his attention. At the time, Lio hadn't thought about the implications of what he was doing — he had just been trying to save Galo's life. Then, later, Galo had only been returning the favor.Now it seems that Lio has to content himself with being married to a man he's known for a week.
Relationships: Lio Fotia & Gueira & Meis, Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 9
Kudos: 160





	There Are Worse Ways to Spend a Honeymoon

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, everything in the movie plays out the same except the Burnish can keep their promare at the end. If they satisfied the promare by letting them burn out the solar system, then there's no reason to send them away, right? They aren't tugging on the Earth's core anymore. Right. That totally works.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy.

As nice as it was, sharing a little moment with Galo at the dawn of what was almost the end of the world, Lio didn't let it linger. He bumped his fist to Galo's good-naturedly, as thanks for helping Lio put an end to this nightmare, then turned away from the rising sun with a sigh and his hands on his hips.

"Before we can worry about cleaning up the city, there are tens of thousands of Burnish still locked in those pods that are going to need help getting down." Lio flexed his right hand absentmindedly. The left had withered away, gradually, but the right arm had _hurt_. He'd been locked in that pod, strapped in with barbed wire, and forced to act as a conduit for all of the Burnish's power and all of their agony, too. His right arm hadn't turned to ash slowly, it had been ripped from his body along with his toes and the tips of his hair. He wondered if the Burnish still locked away were alright, if maybe his body had absorbed enough of the damage that no one had died.

He could only hope. If Gueira or Meis, especially, were hurt or worse… Lio wasn't sure what he'd do. Revoke his internal vow not to kill Kray, maybe.

He could feel Galo staring at him, so Lio cleared his throat and stalked forward, down the sloped edge of the downed ship's roof. He found who he was looking for quickly, a woman with pink hair and thin-wired glasses. Her lab coat was overplayed, but a dead give away.

"You," Lio said when he approached, and the woman blinked owlishly at him. Maybe still trying to process what had just happened. "Were you a scientist working with Kray Foresight?" She hesitated but nodded. Lio clenched his jaw and somehow managed not to punch her. "Do you know how to release the clasping mechanisms in those pods? I think my people have been imprisoned long enough."

She stared at Lio a moment longer, and he almost snapped at her to hurry up and _answer_ , before she looked off into the distance with a blank expression. "Not automatically, no," she said. "There was a feature for it, but I imagine that it was shot when the ship crashed and lost all power. I could attempt to get it up and running again, but there's no guarantee. The best bet would be to use planes or helicopters to reach higher levels and retrieve people safely. The holding mechanisms have emergency releases."

Lio almost asked, bitterly, why she even bothered. But no, no bitterness. Not yet. He would save it until he was testifying in court. He just nodded and turned to the other pink-haired woman standing next to the doctor. "You're an accomplished pilot, aren't you?" He questioned, although he didn't really need an answer. Lio had been in the back of her ship, albeit briefly, and if she was skilled enough to stay airborne with the way that he and Galo had been rocking it, then that was all he needed.

The second woman (Lio couldn't remember if Galo had ever said her name) straightened when he addressed her and nodded. "I can help get people onto the ground, but we should call in more rescue teams. Otherwise, it could end up taking days with just one aircraft."

He wondered, for a moment, how he was going to pull that off. But only for a moment. Footsteps announced Galo joining them, and it was only by sheer force of will that Lio didn't instinctively break his wrist when Galo slung an arm around his shoulders. "No problem!" He said proudly, not seeming to notice the undignified noise Lio made when he was pulled back against Galo's still naked (and impressive) chest. "I can talk to Ignis about calling in some backup, and we've got our mechas too, remember? Those babies can climb vertically with people inside. I'm sure Remi and Varys will want to help out." He nodded toward a cluster of people that Lio didn't know. Galo's rescue team, apparently. Some of them looked vaguely familiar.

"Good thinking," the pink-haired pilot agreed with a nod. "I'll ask Lucia if her equipment is still good after everything that just happened. That should help us evacuate the ship's passengers, too." She jogged off, leaving them alone with the scientist.

It was awkward for a moment, as Lio resolutely avoided making eye contact with the woman, but that didn't last long. The arm Galo had around him was removed and he took Lio by the hand instead, dragging him over to where a tall blond man with sunglasses and a neat mustache was talking into an earpiece.

"Captain Ignis!" Galo waved as they got closer, apparently seeing no reason not to loudly introduce themselves as if Ignis couldn't see them coming. "Hey, you've met Lio, right?"

The only memory that Lio had of Ignis was him being there when Lio was arrested by Galo however long ago. He didn't consider that a bad memory. From what he had seen, Ignis defended Galo which was more than enough reason to like him. Evidently, Ignis felt the same way, because his expression remained unchanged in the face of meeting Promepolis' biggest terrorist. Or maybe he was just good at looking neutral.

Either way, Ignis nodded. "Yes. Good work back there, you two," was all he said, with the barest hints of a smile.

Lio very nearly rolled his eyes. He'd helped save the world and put an end to one of the biggest violations of human rights in recent history, and all he got was a barebones smile and a "good work"? But Galo was beaming as if Ignis had just handed him the world, so Lio didn't want to ruin the moment. "Do you think you can call in any nearby rescue teams? There's a lot of people that we gotta get off of this ship. And the Burnish'll probably need food and water." Galo's smile faded. "Who knows how long they've been locked up like that."

The reminder made Lio's stomach twist. And the ship had fallen out of the sky, too. Hopefully being pinned in place meant that none of the Burnish had slammed into a wall or floor, but that still had to strain their limbs. The regular passengers who had been on board were probably going to need medical attention. Removing the ship entirely was going to take months and, until then, it was going to dominate Promepolis' skyline, an unavoidable reminder.

"You okay?" Galo's hand on his shoulder roused him from his thoughts and Lio stared up at him, uncomprehending. How weird, to just be touched casually like that. He wondered if Galo even noticed that he was doing it.

Maybe he should have been more bothered by it, by the assumption that Lio wanted to be touched, but he wasn't. "Just lost in thought." Lio shrugged Galo's hand off as he turned away. "We need to get everyone out of the ship safely. It might be at risk for a collapse, we can't tell yet." He paused. "And I should find a shirt."

"You're the one who ripped it off!" Galo pointed out with a grin, setting his hands on his hips. And, wow, his pants were really low-riding, weren't they? Lio was not staring. He _wasn't_. "Going shirtless isn't so bad. I ran into a fire without a shirt before!"

He snorted, covering his mouth in an attempt to hide the curl of his lips. "Of course you did," Lio muttered.

"More than once," Ignis cut in. He clapped a hand on Galo's shoulder. "I'll have Remi and Varys help me get Kray and Vulcan somewhere we can keep them until the proper authorities for an arrest show up. And Heris will probably have to go with them, too." He tilted his head toward the pink-haired doctor and there was finally an emotion on his face: regret. But then it was gone and Ignis continued. "Luckily, Aina has her ship to get us down. Fotia." Hearing his last name said so casually was new for Lio, but he straightened and faced the Burning Rescue captain respectfully. "You look to be about Aina's size. She might have a spare shirt on her jet."

If Aina was the pink-haired girl in the bra and hot pants, then Lio doubted that she knew what a shirt was. Maybe that was why she and Galo worked so well together — neither of them saw the innumerable problems of firefighting without a shirt on.

Honestly. Lio had known Galo all of a week and was amazed that he hadn't gotten himself killed yet just walking down the street.

They left Ignis to make his calls and round up the criminals. Heris, apparently the name of the scientist, seemed almost relieved to go. Lio stared at her from a distance and wondered, only somewhat venomously, if she was proud of herself.

While they waited for Aina to start her plane, Galo talked animatedly to his… co-workers? Yeah, co-workers. That was the right word. He kept trying to drag Lio into it, but it was clear to everyone except Galo that there was still some unresolved tension between Burning Rescue and the Mad Burnish. They didn't want to stand near a terrorist powerful enough to raze their city to the ground, and Lio… didn't have good enough social skills to change their minds.

But not talking was okay, because it gave Lio time to observe. He gathered that the man with blue-ish hair and glasses was Remi, the man who was somehow even taller and more muscular than Galo was Varys, and the only one who was shorter than Lio was Lucia. His favorite was Lucia, just because she apparently made Galo's mecha and his matoi tech and seemed enthusiastic to talk about it with him. The way that they went back and forth, practically jumping up and down and screaming about how cool the planet-sized mecha that Galo and Lio had made was, reminded Lio a lot of watching siblings interact.

Of course, that just reminded him of all the Burnish children he'd interacted with over the years, all the ones who had been captured when the settlement was torn down and then forced to have their power sucked out of them because they weren't viewed as people. Lio's fingers dug into his arms so tightly that he could feel bruises forming. Please let him not be too late to help them…

Aina stopped by briefly to hand Lio a white tank top, then was back to her ship. It took a few minutes that ended up feeling more like an eternity, but then Aina's jets powered up and everyone was forced to cluster inside. Lio was tense the whole ride to the ground until they had landed and Kray and Vulcan had been dragged out of his sight. Seeing them in restraints wasn't comforting. He wondered if seeing them behind bars would be.

Ignis ended up taking Varys with him to watch Kray, Vulcan, and Heris, as well as to wait for backup. So with the rest of Burning Rescue, Lio walked the perimeter of Kray's city-sized ship until they found a crack bigger than a house in the hull. Inside was the engine. Looking at it from the ground was somehow even more dizzying than being in the middle of it. All Lio could see were pods, seemingly endless, going for what felt like miles and miles even though he knew it wasn't true.

He darted over to the closest one, stepping up over the metal platform to step up to the pod. There wasn't any glass in the front, thank _fuck_. Lio stepped into the triangular-shaped opening and automatically summoned a small flame with his hand to see what he was doing. The heat made the woman locked in place groan, eyes fluttering open as she lifted her head.

"Don't worry," Lio soothed, eyes roaming the locking mechanisms behind her for Heris' fabled release switch. "I'm going to get you out of here. I'm sorry that it took so long."

There was a gratifying click as the cuffs holding the woman's arms and legs released. Lio caught her when she slumped forward and out of them, legs too weak from underuse to hold herself up. She managed to hold onto his shoulders anyway, burying her face against his chest. "Thank you," she whispered, voice rasping along his throat. "Thank you so much…"

She didn't seem to have the energy to cry, but her body was shaking like she wanted to. Lio helped her carefully out of the pod, taking her to the center of the room and coaxing her to sit. He saw Remi, using one of Burning Rescue's mechas, prying the gap in the ship's hull open wider so that Aina could fit her ship inside. Lucia and Galo had followed in Lio's example and were stopping by pods on their own. Lio looked up at the pods that went on for so long that he couldn't make them out anymore. His eyes narrowed in determination. He'd stay here for days if it meant ensuring that everyone got out safely.

Progress was slow-going with only five of them. While Lio, Galo, and Lucia tackled the problem from ground level, Aina used her ship to start at the top and work her way down, piloting carefully while Remi released people and helped them board her jet.

When the Burnish set foot on solid ground, some of them laughed. Others cried. A few got down on hands and knees and kissed the floor. A lot of them wanted to thank Lio personally, or hug him, or shake his hand. He knew that he had to look a sight, hair wind-swept with ash and pants torn and wearing a shirt that didn't fit him correctly. But all of them only seemed to be glad to see his face and know that they were alive.

Gradually, Lio began to hear police sirens outside and the chatter of voices growing louder. People trying to help trickled in, bit by bit, one by one. In the hour it took them to clear the entirety of the first level of pods, they had a spot set up in the center for food and water. There were no chairs or blankets, but the Burnish were used to living with minimal comforts and sat on the floor. Hands wrapped around warm bowls, bodies bowed together, a solemn sort of hush that everyone automatically fell into when they drew near. Lio's people were hurt, but they were survivors. Eventually, he hoped that what Kray did would just be another nightmare.

The ash in the air faded after long enough. Lio was glad to see that most people weren't badly injured. Maybe it was because he had been acting as a conduit, or maybe it was because Kray had used Dr. Deus Prometh's perfected engine instead of his incomplete one. Whatever the reason, Lio got used to finding people without fingernails or with shorter hair or the tips of their noses looking like they'd been rubbed off, too weak for their flames to fix the minor cosmetic issues. But it was better than how Lio had turned out, with his limbs blowing away in the breeze and his inner fire so weak that it'd barely been more than a candle.

He got to see one man who had been too weak to properly regenerate in time. Lio winced in sympathy as he was rushed out to an ambulance with half of his left arm missing and only one foot. It would heal, with time and constant monitoring, but that didn't mean that it wasn't painful.

Things could be worse. They hadn't turned up any dead people yet and, for that, Lio was incredibly grateful.

The hours ticked by. More people joined in, more jets took to the air to start working on the middle rows. Those with the strength to walk were ushered outside, where Lio could see more officials waiting and still hear the endless whir of sirens. He didn't know what the process was outside, but he didn't have time to check when it still didn't seem like they'd made much of a dent, overall.

Lio had never seen so many people in one place before. At it's very biggest, the settlement had nearly one thousand Burnish. Any more was a risk. Seeing it all was staggering.

Speaking of staggering…

He had been helping a Burnish man to take a seat with the others, instructing him quietly to wait for food, when Lio had straightened and almost had the wind knocked out of him. He flared up on instinct, flames rushing out from every inch of his skin.

It took Lio a second after that to reign them in, realizing what he'd done. But no damage was done. Gueira and Meis were grinning at him, fighting for space to clutch him in a bear hug. Forgetting for a moment that they had an audience, Lio felt his face split into an unfamiliar smile and hugged them back, one arm around each of his generals.

His cheeks ached. It felt like Lio had been doing a lot more smiling recently, as dark as things had gotten for a while there.

"We knew you could do it, Boss," Meis said with a tight voice. He kept his head down, so Lio couldn't see, but he knew that there were tears in his eyes.

Gueira didn't hold Meis' reservations about trying to hide his tears. "We were so worried!" He pulled away from the hug to grab Lio's face on either side, turning him this way and that and eyes roaming over Lio's body as though looking for damage.

As touching as that was, Lio went from "heartfelt" to "pissed" in a second. He drew his brows into a scowl, pulled back his arm, and slammed a fist into Gueira's gut before landing a good hit on Meis' jaw. "What the fuck were you two _thinking_?" He demanded. "Don't you ever, _ever_ sacrifice yourselves for me again!"

There wasn't a lot of power behind his hits, so Gueira straightened with a wheeze and Meis rubbed his jaw absently. "We took a gamble, Boss. And it paid off." His expression softened. "The day we met, I knew it was right to put our trust in you. You did it. It's _over_." It sounded like Meis was trying to convince himself, like he still couldn't quite believe it.

"Being locked up like that wasn't as bad as not being able to help you," Gueira admitted. "It was— We were just locked in there and couldn't do anything, then everything went black. I don't know what that bastard did, but you started screaming and _screaming_ , and then it just stopped." His face was pale. "Lio, we thought you died."

Suddenly, the fact that neither of them had agreed to stop being self-sacrificial meant nothing to Lio. Hearing his actual name from Gueira instead of that semi-sarcastic but unquestionably respectful "Boss" genuinely left him at a loss for words.

And he'd been so busy moving since it happened, putting one foot in front of the other — dragging Galo into making that mecha, releasing the Burnish, making sure that they were all _alright_ — that Lio hadn't stopped to think about it.

Without his permission, his vision blurred. Lio tried to swallow and found that his throat was too tight. "I… I got really close," he admitted, a whisper.

He'd been right on the edge. Lio hadn't even been able to move. Galo had knocked him free of the engine's core, torn his body right out of the barbed wire holding him in place, but that hadn't fixed the damage that had already been done. And Lio had felt so tempted to give in, to just muster up a little more strength to tell Galo how to fix everything and then let his body turn to ash.

A coward's way out, he knew. But knowing that hadn't helped at the moment, when all he'd felt was thousands of people's pain and all he wanted was for it to end.

Gueira still hadn't released his hold on Lio's face, but Meis leaned in anyway, pushing Lio's hair out of his eyes and pressing his fingers under Lio's jaw. "You're cold," he said, surprised. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept, for that matter?"

The fact that he couldn't answer immediately was probably a red flag by itself, but Lio tried to remember. "Ah… We had a meal before we were arrested by Freeze Force, remember? And I slept right before that."

He wasn't sure why Gueira and Meis exchanged uneasy glances. "Boss," Gueira said carefully, "that was a week ago."

Oh. _Oh,_ Lio supposed that made sense. It had been morning when he was arrested and evening by the time he found a good hiding place while they found a better way to transport all of the injured Burnish they had with them. And he hadn't slept that evening, either, taking the lookout shift. There had been no time to eat or rest when he was helping everyone get settled and calming strained nerves, frequenting the medbay more often than not to try and lend some of his strength to those who's flames were fading. By the time everyone had been settled well-enough to be left to their own devices, the settlement had been attacked. Lio remembered snacking intermittently somewhere in there, but he knew that he hadn't eaten or slept when he was encased in ice. For _days_ , apparently. All he remembered was being unable to move, screaming but unable to open his mouth, clawing for the heat that he could feel licking at his prison of ice, just barely out of reach. Had it taken him days, really? Days to muster up the strength and rage to free himself of that entombment?

He pulled away from Gueira's and Meis' hands, momentarily stunned. "I… guess it was," he agreed blankly. The meaning hadn't really sunk in yet.

His generals shared another look that Lio missed, then there was a sigh. Gueira took hold of his wrist, dragging Lio away from the cluster of Burnish. Meis didn't follow them. "Alright, no offense, Boss, but you're gonna have to take orders for a few minutes here. I get that you're not going to let yourself sleep, but you should at least sit down for a few minutes and rest. You look like you're ready to drop. Meis'll get us all something to eat."

Lio shook his head without much passion. "No, food is limited as it is. I couldn't—"

"You can and you will," Gueira cut him off impatiently. "Take the rations they're handing out, or I'll go ask some of the Burnish for their food directly. I bet they'd all hand it over to you in a heartbeat. They owe you their lives, Boss."

The mortification and shame of watching Gueira do something like that made Lio snap his mouth shut, protests swallowed. He was turning red, both frustrated and embarrassed, but now that it had been reminded of food, Lio's stomach was suddenly feeling painfully empty. He considered his options for a few seconds before ultimately sighing and deciding to make it easy on himself. "I suppose that I wouldn't be much help to the Burnish if I passed out from malnutrition and exhaustion," he allowed.

Gueira grinned. "There we go, that's the spirit! Uh, sort of. Here, let's just—" He stopped walking suddenly, looking around the huge, empty floor. When he spotted a cluster of rubble, Gueira made his way over to it, knocking a few chunks of the roof onto their sides to make for a smoother place to sit. "Wish I had something to start a fire with. Then it'd be just like old times, on the run and trying to cook that disgusting canned shit we stole." Gueira's smile turned rueful. "Guess we don't have to do that anymore, do we?"

"I guess not," Lio agreed. He took a seat across from Gueira, staring at the space between them as if there was an actual fire there for him to feel. "If they'll let us make a home in the city without the Foresight Foundation in the way, we'll have to find jobs. Learn how to take care of an apartment. Pay bills." He snorted, faintly amused. "Almost makes me wish we could just go back to being terrorists."

"Nothing's stopping us from burning down a building or two," Gueira argued, fingers sparking as if to demonstrate.

"Wrong. I'm stopping you." Meis rejoined them with a warning look, three bowls of soup and three bottles of water balanced precariously in his arms. "No more arson. We'll just have to learn to deal with things we don't like in a reasonable way instead of burning them down."

A bottle of water was tossed to Lio and he caught it on impulse, setting it in his lap. Despite his complaints earlier, the sight of food made his mouth water. When Meis handed his serving to him, Lio sipped without complaint. His stomach immediately settled, the cramps subsiding now that it wasn't so empty. How had he not noticed it before? Well, Lio supposed, he _had_ been busy.

Meis sat between the two of them on another piece of rubble, and for a while, it was quiet. Just the three of them desperately trying not to make it obvious how hungry they were. When all of the disposable bowls were empty they were set aside. Lio had eaten so quickly that he didn't even know what the soup tasted like. He was still hungry, but he wasn't about to admit that. He took to sipping on his water bottle while he appreciated how good it felt to be sitting down.

"So." Gueira was the one to break the silence. "You gonna tell us the details, Boss? We're kind of in the dark about what happened after Freeze Force attacked."

Despite himself, Lio grimaced. After all he'd told Meis and Gueira about staying true to their morals no matter what, about not giving in to anger, about never killing… He'd gone and done just that. Heat prickled the back of his neck and he hung his head, ashamed. They had the right to know the truth.

"I broke out of the ice," he began, "eventually. Your improvised canon launched me into a volcano, and I used the heat from it to wear away at the ice. And then I…" Lio hesitated and found that he couldn't make eye contact with either of them. "I was so furious, with the world and with Kray Foresight, I… I didn't even recognize myself. My body became black flames and I made myself into the eye of an enormous dragon. Bigger than skyscrapers. I used it to… to try and murder Kray. I nearly burnt the city to the ground."

And Lio had tried to murder him, again, when his head was clear so Lio knew that he had no excuse. Even now, he didn't feel bad about it. His guilt came from the idea that he _should_ feel bad, because he'd tried to murder a man and he ought to feel _something_ , right?

But he didn't. Lio just felt like he was in limbo, like he couldn't decide if he wanted to kill Kray or not any more or if doing so would even make him feel better.

"You didn't, though!" A new, much louder voice joined their huddle and a hand clamped down on his shoulder. Lio managed not to flinch, a smile coming to his face as he glanced up. "Don't beat yourself up over that, Lio, we all make bad choices when we're angry. And you had every right to be furious." Galo pulled his hand away and struck a pose. "Luckily, I, Galo Thymos, was there to stop you!"

"Yes," Lio muttered. "Lucky indeed." He eyed Galo a moment longer (and, wow, those poses really made his pants seem less baggy) before turning back to his generals.

They'd looked surprised when Lio described his flaming dragon, but Galo's arrival had caused mirrored expressions of shock on their faces. When Meis managed to close his jaw, he gathered himself, then said, "Wait. So you're telling me that _you_ stopped him?" He sounded somewhere between disbelieving and stunned. "You. All by yourself?"

Galo blinked. "Well, I had my matoi gear, but… Yeah. I just—" He mimed out his attack with his hands, or at least that's what Lio thought he was doing. It was hard to follow up until Galo mimicked an explosion, making a "whoosh" noise for effect. "—froze his dragon solid. Getting Lio to calm down was harder, but I think I got through to his morals after a few punches," he said proudly.

Lio snorted. "You don't think that the frozen lake you dropped me in had anything to do with calming me down?"

It didn't. Not really. Lio could have kept those black flames going, could have made another dragon. The ice and water had put out his fire because he hadn't been trying to fuel it.

" _Didn't you pride yourself on not killing without reason?"_ Galo had asked. They'd known each other for a week, shared one conversation and several fights, and yet Galo had been able to pin him effortlessly. He'd known what Lio cared about and hadn't hesitated to call him out on his hypocrisy.

A part of Lio admired that. Not that he was going to admit it.

Galo's response was cut off when Gueira got abruptly to his feet. He approached Galo, circling him, and— was Gueira _sniffing_ him? "Matoi gear?" He repeated, pulling back. "But you smell like smoke. And you _feel_ like a Burnish, too."

"I do?" Galo looked down at himself, surprised, and Lio went rigid.

"That's impossible," he cut in. "Galo isn't Burnish. If he smells like smoke, it might be because of everything that's happened. There's been a lot of fire around here."

"No, that's not it." Meis was standing now too, observing Galo with eyes narrowed. "He definitely _feels_ Burnish… Almost like—" Realization blew his eyes wide and Meis turned to Lio, affronted. "Wait, this is the Burning Rescue guy that arrested us! Are you saying—? _Boss_!" He groaned, holding his head in his hands. "Boss, this guy? _Really_?"

"What?" Lio was on his feet now too, more out of confusion than anything. "It's not like I _chose_ him, Galo just happened to interrupt me when I—"

"You were crying," Galo said suddenly. He wasn't looking at either Meis or Gueira.

It took a moment to process. Lio was beginning to think that a week without sleep was catching up to him. "Me?" He pointed at himself and Galo nodded. "What do you mean I was…? I wasn't crying." Lio touched his cheeks just to be sure but, no, they were bone dry. Other than his misty eyes earlier, he knew that he hadn't been crying.

"Not today. Yesterday, when I stopped your dragon," Galo clarified. "You said I was there by coincidence, but I went and got my matoi gear and went after you because you were crying. Your dragon, there was this blue-ish flame coming from its eyes…" He gestured near his own eyes. "So I knew you were upset, and that you'd feel horrible when you were back to yourself if you went through with whatever you were planning to do, so… I stopped you."

Lio felt his face beginning to heat up. Oh. He hadn't known that Galo had interrupted him deliberately. He had just assumed that it had been a pin-headed move on Galo's part, seeing a rampaging dragon made out of fire attacking his idol's headquarters. Did his intention change anything? Lio thought that it did. He was still trying to work out how to say "thank you" without stuttering or making himself look ridiculous when Meis sighed.

"That's great. Really," he said impatiently, in a tone that said the opposite, "but, Boss, I wasn't talking about the _dragon_. This guy—" Meis pointed to Galo, "—he feels just like you!"

Galo seemed confused, but Lio didn't get that luxury. His face paled. "You're joking."

Gueira shook his head so aggressively that Lio was surprised it didn't go flying off. "No way, Boss. I can't believe you ran off and got hitched without even asking us to be the witnesses. And to someone who's not even Burnish!"

While Lio sputtered indignantly, Galo laughed. " _'Hitched,'_ you mean like _married_? Lio, when did you have time to get married?"

Having to explain it somehow made the situation even worse. Lio took a deep breath, praying for patience. "It's… a Burnish union," he said carefully, avoiding eye contact. "When Burnish get married, there's no proposal and a separate ceremony. We combine them." It was necessary for people who lived on the run. "One Burnish, to propose, will offer the other their flame." Lio made a fire, cradled in two hands, to demonstrate. Galo stared, expression blank. It wasn't clear if he was even listening. "If the proposal is accepted, the other will take their flames, and then…" He cleared his throat and let the flame sizzle out. "...breathe it back to them via a kiss."

When he finished, Galo hummed, looking into Lio's eyes. "That's pretty cool. But what does that have to do with—" The answer came to him before the question had even been fully formed. The way that Lio looked away was probably a good indicator, too. "Oh."

" _Oh?"_ Meis sounded like he was about to pop a vein. "How did you two manage to _accidentally_ get married? That's an incredibly intimate Burnish ritual! It's completely _irreversible_!"

"Well, it's not like it was my intention!" Lio snapped. "It was either give him my flame or let Kray kill him! And the kiss, that was—" He cut himself off. " _That was just to save my life,"_ was the truth, but Lio had to stop because what he wanted to say was, " _That wasn't the ideal scenario for a first kiss."_

It had been nice, too. Not because Galo had done a skilled job or because he'd even been _trying_ to kiss Lio, but just because of how gentle he had been when he'd done it. The situation was desperate, Lio was dying, and instead of being frantic and aggressive, Galo had cupped the back of his head and cradled Lio when it was done. There was no reason to treat the situation as delicately as he had, but Galo had done it anyway.

It didn't hurt that Galo was, well, easy on the eyes. And maybe, just _maybe_ , he was Lio's type, too.

Galo touched a hand to his lips and frowned. Lio really hoped that he was just thinking hard and not looking back on their "kiss" with distaste. "I thought that was just what Burnish did when someone was dying. I was trying to keep you from turning to ash," he said, as if the tone in his voice was going to make Lio feel anything _other_ than fond.

"It is," Meis said patiently, "and good on you for saving the Boss' life, really, it's just—" He struggled for the words.

"That's the most intimate thing Burnish can do with each other's flames," Gueira supplied. "Other than fucking with them, but most people don't wanna do that in public." He sent a wink Meis' way that went ignored.

The bluntness made Galo flush and, Lio had to admit, he felt his heart racing a little faster too as their "kiss" was compared to going all the way. They glanced at each other at the same time and just as quickly looked away, more embarrassed than before. Lio was _not_ going to think about having sex with a man he'd known for a week. He _wasn't_.

(But he was willing to bet that Galo would be just as soft as he'd been during their kiss and Lio wasn't proud of how down-right _mushy_ that made him feel. _A week,_ Lio kept needing to remind himself. _I've known him a week, we barely know each other at all._ It didn't help.)

"Yeah, what he said except with a little more tact," agreed Meis with an eye roll. "A kiss of life is all well and good, but, well… Because you're not Burnish, you had to use the Boss' flames to do it, so… Congrats. I guess you're married now." He made a face. "But you could do better, Boss."

Lio shrugged, answering before Galo had time to think up an appropriately biting retort. "Oh, I don't know. That remains to be seen. We barely know each other." He turned to Galo, smiling faintly. "Still, that was quite the honeymoon. I never imagined setting the entire solar system on fire after getting married."

He'd never imagined getting married at all. For Lio, it had never been in the cards. The Burnish were always more important, and his job as their leader came before anything else. But the mark that he and Galo had left on each other was permanent, and Lio wasn't as bothered by that as he thought he ought to be.

Galo smirked, arching an eyebrow. "Points for originality though, huh?" He joked. "I always wanted to travel during my honeymoon." He perked up. "Oh, hey, Lio. When we're done fixing up the city, maybe we could take another crack at it and go on vacation somewhere. You can pick."

The offer was made completely casually, so much so that Lio actually choked while Gueira and Meis burst out laughing. "You're—" Lio's face was red, his expression bewildered. "Are you asking me out?"

It was Galo's turn to look confused. "I thought dating was supposed to come before marriage?"

They could do this all day if Lio let it continue. He struggled for a moment, trying to formulate a polite way to say "no," explain to Galo that this was all just a formality and meant nothing, that he had far more important things to deal with than a pseudo husband. But instead, what he said was, "Sure. Why not? Let's see the world together, Galo Thymos."

Never mind where they were going to get the money or the time for that. Lio had a funny feeling that Galo would find a way to make it work. He had, after all, just done the impossible. The short time that they had known each other left no doubt in Lio's mind that Galo was an incredible person.

Had it been possible, Galo's smile would've gotten wider. "Then it's a date," he agreed. "I'm not sure how the second honeymoon could beat this one, though. Which reminds me." He pulled a bottle of water out of one of the heavy-looking pouches on his belt, handing it to Lio. "This is what I came over here for. I saw you were taking a break and thought I should bring you water. It's important to stay hydrated, y'know. And you look exhausted."

Lio clutched the bottle with two hands and made no move to open it. There was no reason for him to be flustered over such a simple gesture, and yet… "Thank you," Lio managed. "You should rest, too."

"I'll rest wherever I end up dropping!" Galo declared, grinning. The bags under his eyes were almost the color of his hair. "I'm a member of Burning Rescue — I won't stop until every single one of these people is safe."

Yeah. Lio definitely could have done worse for a husband. He felt his heart doing flips. "You can't help anyone if you're exhausted and starving," he said, parroting what Gueira had told him just ten minutes ago. "... If you rest, I'll join you."

"Really?" Galo paused, seeming to consider that. It was sort of a bold offer, Lio had to admit, but now that he'd let himself stop and rest, the exhaustion had set in. It manifested as a bone-deep sort of an ache, a heaviness that made him long to lay down just for an hour or two. Honestly, even if Galo refused, Lio was tempted to find somewhere to lay down anyway. "Okay," Galo agreed, and Lio didn't even try to convince himself that it wasn't the answer he wanted. "The Burning Rescue truck's parked outside. It's not gonna be comfortable, but we keep blankets on hand. We can just lay on the floor. Is that fine?"

Living on the run for so long, Lio could fall asleep standing up with his eyes open. A solid floor with blankets sounded perfect to him. "Yes." He nodded, automatically moving to follow when Galo started off in the other direction.

He'd nearly forgotten, in his haste, that Gueira and Meis weren't exactly approving of their "union." Meis' hand latched onto Lio's arm before he could get further than a step, and he shot Galo a strained smile. "Give us a minute in private," he said, dragging Lio away without waiting for permission.

Once they were out of earshot, Gueira shot Galo a glare and hissed, "Boss, you're weaker when you're tired. We're not gonna let you just wander off with a stranger. He works with _Burning Rescue_ — that's just Freeze Force with less funding."

Lio shook his arm free of Meis' hold with a scowl. "That's funny. I don't remember asking for permission."

Meis was equally unamused. "C'mon, Boss, be reasonable. We thought you were dead for a while there, we're gonna worry about your safety." He tried for a smile. "And we were always going to haze the fuck out of anyone you started dating."

 _Was_ he dating Galo? Lio wasn't sure if they'd settled on an answer for that. Galo just seemed to think that they were married, so… A couple, then? Maybe they'd need a date that didn't involve piloting giant mechas or had the fate of the world hanging in the balance before they decided on a label for whatever they were doing. Lio just knew that he'd like to try kissing Galo again, of his own volition this time. And maybe hear more about whatever that "matoi" thing was over dinner sometime. It didn't need to be more than that at the moment.

" _Please_ don't haze him." Lio sighed. "Galo is a good guy. And, more importantly, he's not fireproof. I don't think he'll survive a night out with you two." Actually, Galo _might_ be fireproof. Lio would have to test it to be sure, but if they'd performed the marriage rites successfully like Gueira and Meis seemed to think, then Galo should still have some remnants of Lio's fire.

Or, his promare, more aptly. That was probably why mixing them created unshakable bonds — because they were sentient and alive. At the very least, Lio could hear that the little voice in the back of his head was being quiet for once. He wondered if it liked Galo, if it could even tell that he existed since Galo wasn't Burnish.

"We can't make that promise. He might be a "good guy," but is he good enough for _you_?" Gueira clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "Doubtful."

Lio crossed his arms with a huff. "He saved the world _and_ saved my life. I would think that he's earned more than enough leeway for me to take a nap with him uninterrupted."

Gueira and Meis looked at each other. Lio _hated_ when they did that, because they'd known each other for years longer than he'd been in their lives and they could have whole conversations in the furrows of their brows or the crinkles of their noses. He glared at them weakly, impatient, but didn't have to wait long.

"We'll check on you two once we've gotten some more progress done with the rest of the rescuers," Meis settled on.

"And we'll give it a two week grace period before we start to haze your loverboy," Gueira added. "We'll keep fire out of it and just take him to some seedy bar and smash a bottle or two to prove our point. Shit like that."

Thinking about what a disaster _that_ was going to be just invited another headache, so Lio decided not to linger on it. "Great. Well, now that my love life is up to your standards, I'm going to go lay down." He turned to rejoin Galo before either of them could say something else.

"Make sure to use protection!" Gueira shouted after him, as loud as he could.

Heads snapped toward them and it was a testament to Lio's willpower that his pace didn't falter. His face, however, was _burning_ when he fell into step next to Galo.

"Protection?" Galo seemed bewildered by the concept. "We have plenty of safety gear, but I don't know why you'd want to sleep in it."

Lio waved his concerns off, sipping the water Galo had given him in the hopes that it would lower his body heat back to reasonable levels. It didn't. Actually, the water had begun to heat up from Lio's touch, rendering the point moot. "Ignore him. They're both just… _overprotective_ ," Lio settled on finally, hoping that Galo would accept that answer and leave it.

In response, Galo put an arm around Lio's shoulders and pumped his other fist enthusiastically. "Well, they don't need to worry about anything happening as long as I'm around! We make an amazing ass-kicking team, Lio. Oh, we should see if Lucia can make anything like the Lio de Galon! It'd be a lot of fun to pilot with you again, this time as husbands."

Hearing Galo use the word "husband" to refer to him shouldn't have made Lio feel so fluttery, but it did. He could get used to the word, he thought. It seemed that Galo already had.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Lio reached up to pat Galo's hand absentmindedly. "We still have a lot of cleanup and rehabilitation ahead of us. A lot of people are going to need homes and quickly, with winter coming in a few months. There's also the matter of legislation, new laws to give equal rights to Burnish and allow us to be citizens of the city at all. I'm sure that the local economy is shattered, too, with how much money Kray pumped into this thing. And now that it's broken, all of that is worthless."

"Lio." Galo cut in when he stopped to breathe, and Lio realized that at some point they had stopped walking. He set both hands on Lio's shoulders and he glanced up at Galo, mind still churning out plans that wouldn't matter for months or years down the line. "Let's just worry about taking that nap, okay? We have plenty of time to put everything back together. And, hey, we've already done the impossible once, right?"

Galo's smile was grounding and reassuring. Lio wasn't sure how he managed it, to hold both of them on Earth when Lio's thoughts had always been up in the sky, far away in a future he'd only dared to envision when he was alone. He held Galo's stare, though it would have been easier to look away. "You're right," he agreed. Took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about that. Where did your team leave your truck?"

"Oh! Just out here, I think." Galo dropped his arm to take Lio's hand instead, taking the lead as they broke out of the ship and into the daylight. He kept talking while Lio's eyes wandered over tents and emergency vehicles and people from every economic class gathered for every possible reason. Wherever Ignis and Varys had dragged off the criminals, Lio couldn't see any sign of them nearby. "You don't need to apologize for thinking. You're trying to undo a bunch of awful things to make a better future for all sorts of people, Lio. And that's really amazing." He shot a grin over his shoulder. "Just— what's that saying? "Burning the candle at both ends"? Yeah. You should sit down to nap and eat more often. There will still be problems waiting when you wake up."

Something about that was strangely comforting to Lio. He often worried that things would shatter the second he looked away, that this tentative peace was fleeting and temporary, but… Well, he'd been fighting his entire life. Lio Fotia had been born in ash and spent every second of his life fighting a world that didn't want him. If the government kicked him down, he'd kick them back harder. Like he already had. Like Galo had helped him do. And there would always be new problems, some more difficult than others. He was never going to get a utopia, he knew that.

He could trust that everything wouldn't go to hell for a few hours. Maybe even a week, long enough for a vacation. Eventually. Not any time soon.

"Here we go!" Galo stopped next to a fire truck that looked exactly like all the others to Lio. There was a number pad next to the door and he punched in the code before flinging it open. "Uh, just watch your step, there's a little dip there— Yeah, like that. Here, lemme—"

Galo got in first, offering Lio his hand and pulling him up. When they were both inside, he shut the door, plunging them into a much softer, blue-tinted light. It was cramped in the truck, which he'd expected. He eyed the wall of computers and keyboards, seeing the slot where those mechas must have been stored until they were ready to be launched. Galo navigated it easily, crossing to a storage compartment that Lio hadn't noticed. He yanked it open, shuffling things around and pushing aside a first-aid kit to grab a handful of blankets.

"Are you okay?" Lio only thought to ask then. He'd forgotten how easy it was to hurt normal humans. "I mean, I gave you my fire to protect you from Kray's attack, but that was still a hard fall. You're not hurt are you?"

That got him an amused, over-the-shoulder look before Galo set the blankets aside and turned to face him. "I'm a little sore, I guess." He rubbed the side of his neck and flexed his back with a wince. "Nothing that I can't sleep off. Speaking of…" He gestured around them. "You get first pick of the floor plan. Nothing great, but I've fallen asleep in here before and it wasn't that bad. Just don't do it sitting down like Lucia does, or you'll fuck up your back and neck for a week."

Lio snorted. He wondered how many more stupid stories of his co-workers Galo had. He wanted to know all of the most memorable days on the job, all of the things that made Galo love this line of work. He wanted to learn what had set Galo on the path to becoming the man that he'd met on that burning rooftop. After he'd slept, preferably.

"Noted," he said dryly. Picking one of the blankets to use as a pillow, Lio laid down on the ground at the back of the truck, angling his head so that he could watch the entrance. He closed his eyes, and just doing that felt a hundred times better. How in the _fuck_ had he managed to keep going for so long without sleep? Lio could already tell that he wasn't going to be able to convince his body to move again until he'd napped.

Shuffling made him stiffen, then a shadow fell over him. Lio's eyes snapped open and he stared, surprised, as Galo got comfortable across from him. When he saw Lio staring, he offered another blanket. "You can have more than one. Aren't you cold—? Oh." He blinked, lowering the blanket with a huff. "Right. Sorry, stupid question."

Curious, Lio reached out with one hand. "Aren't you warm?" He tried, letting little flames dance at the tips of his fingers. Galo held still as Lio shuffled closer, fingers getting dangerously close to Galo's jaw. "Does that hurt?" He looked at Galo's face for any signs of pain. Then his fingers made contact and the heat sizzled out. Alarmed, Lio yanked his hand back. But there was no sign of a burn, skin left unblemished.

Galo reached up to rub the area, mildly interested. "Huh. So I'm, like, fireproof now?" His smile was tired but genuine. "That's _awesome_."

"Yes. Now you can run into buildings that are on fire without a shirt on." Lio rolled his eyes. "Oh, wait. You were doing that before, weren't you?"

There was a scoff as Galo batted his hand away. "Your sarcasm can't ruin this. Do you think I'll end up with any other Burnish powers?"

It was quiet while Lio thought. He wasn't too familiar with the effects of Burnish marriage, although he'd witnessed quite a number himself. A lot of those in his settlement had asked Lio to be their officiant, even though it wasn't necessary and more a hold-out from whatever their cultures had been before they were Burnish.

"You might," Lio allowed eventually. "You should be able to draw on my flames, although I'm not sure how well you'll be able to. You aren't Burnish, so you aren't naturally in tune with the promare. You'll probably have to work hard just to get a spark."

"How does that even work?" Galo asked, awed. He shifted to lay on his back, holding his gloved and ash-covered hands up as though they were sprouting flames at that very moment. "I thought that I gave your flame back to you when I, uh…" In the low light, Lio could see his face go faintly red. "...saved your life."

"Well, you gave the physical flame back," Lio agreed, "but that's not what this is. You see, Burnish weddings are—" He bit his lip, trying to figure out how to word it. "Even though it was indelicate of him to say so, Gueira was right when he mentioned people having sex with their flames. Kissing is the second most intimate thing that two Burnish can do when they exchange flames. That's why we adopted it into a marriage rite. By accepting it from me, you take it into your very being. It's like— souls," Lio allowed, though he hated to use the term. "You accepted me into your soul, and then breathed that promise back into me. So our bodies recognize each other, our souls are entwined. If you were Burnish, your promare would resonate with mine. We would be able to feel each other, tell when the other is near and feel the others' emotions. Things like that. That's also why Gueira and Meis could tell — you become in tune with the Burnish around you, with the life force that they give out. You're not Burnish, so you must feel like me now, to them. And I assume that I must feel mostly unchanged." Lio closed his eyes. He couldn't lie and say that it didn't sound nice, to have intimacy like that with someone. He'd never met two people more inseparable than Burnish who had been married.

"Huh." Galo was quiet for a long time, apparently letting all of that sink in. Lio had nearly fallen asleep when Galo shifted and said, "So… we're, like, actually married?"

Lio forced his eyes to open. Galo had turned to lay on his side, staring at him expectantly. But expecting what, Lio couldn't say. He bit his lip. "Not legally. Not if you don't want to be," Lio promised. After all, Galo wasn't Burnish. Their customs didn't have to apply to him if he didn't want them to.

"No, I don't think I mind," Galo was quick to reassure him. The fact that hearing him say that was reassuring by any stretch of the imagination was _absurd_ but fine, Lio had dealt with worse things than a budding crush. "I just— ugh, I wish it wasn't so sudden. You're supposed to take your time with someone you're dating, you know? Get to know each other and go out and do those stupid couple-y things…" Galo gestured helplessly with his hands, a movement that was made awkward with one of his arms pinned beneath the rest of him. "And now we're just _husbands_ and I feel like I don't know the first thing about you."

"That's not true," Lio quipped. He arched a brow, trying and failing not to smile. "You know that I have quite the temper."

Galo chuckled. "I wouldn't put it like that… I'd say that you're passionate about your ideals and you're a kind person. You don't like to see people hurt. And you're… really determined. But even though you're stubborn, you're not irrational. You listen when people tell you that what you're doing is wrong, you admit to your mistakes and try to fix them. You're really humble, Lio. Maybe even too much, because I'd definitely say that you're the most powerful Burnish I've ever seen but you don't seem to care."

By the time he'd shut up, Lio's face was pleasantly red. "Well, I…" He took a deep breath. He wasn't good with words. Galo could say it all because he didn't stop to think about it, but Lio overanalyzed every word to the point that nothing ended up coming out at all because it wasn't _perfect_. He tried anyway, willing his clumsy tongue to form syllables. "I know that you're loyal. You were loyal to Kray all the way until he gave you a reason not to be, and I think that's admirable. It's not blind loyalty. Your loyalty has to be earned, and when it is, you'll go to any lengths for a person. Like what you do every day for your team and your city. You're so forgiving, too. You just want to do the right thing, even if you have to do it alone."

It would be a really good moment for a kiss. They didn't. Lio stared into Galo's eyes and felt no urge to move closer, to ruin the silence of just being near each other. His hand was still outstretched and Galo set his own palm over Lio's, fingers curling just hard enough for him to register a squeeze.

"What do you say, then?" Galo asked with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes. "In a few months, when everything's cleaned up and people can go back to living their lives… How about we make our second honeymoon into our first date?"

Lio laughed. It felt good. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed — maybe that dry chuckle when he'd called Galo a naïve idiot, back in that cave near the frozen lake? Did that count?

"Alright," he agreed. "For now, I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight, Galo." Lio turned around onto his other shoulder, his back to Galo. He closed his eyes, and…

"What, no kiss goodnight for your husband?"

Galo got sparks flicked at him for that, but since he was fireproof now, he quieted his complaints and took the hint. Lio heard Galo settling next to him and had the strangest thought that he could get used to the feeling. "Goodnight, Lio," he muttered tiredly.

Even though he didn't answer, Lio smiled. He was still smiling a few minutes later when he dozed off. He didn't end up waking for another eighteen hours. By then, the rest of the Burnish had been freed and Kray's ship laid eerily and thankfully silent. It would be several months of work before Lio felt satisfied enough for a break but, at that point, paying attention to his love life (and the love of his life) felt long overdue and well-deserved.

**Author's Note:**

> This is way too goddamn long, I'm so sorry. No proofreading, I have been writing this nonstop for hours and I'm hungry and tired from just getting off work. If there are spelling/grammar errors, y'all will just have to deal with it.
> 
> * Source for the time frame here is that the movie mentions Galo being locked up for a week. Fuck, Lio never sleeps or eats, how does he do it.


End file.
